This is my first post and possibly last one, I have resigned from my job working for this brewery. Due to the pressure i felt under and the change of managers and relief managers changing things all the time. Some of the managers that have come and gone are badly trained and should not be running a pub, I don't know where they find them from. I have worked for other pub groups in the past with no problems of change of managers or company policy on a whim. Why does Samuel Smith's brewery do this ? I find the pubs strange as no music or televisions, but lots of great banter on a Friday and Saturday night. The drinks are cheap enough, but customers still complain about the change from Alpine to Taddy lager.

This company is constantly trying to change everything to it's own brands and doing everything on the cheap. The food for quiz nights used to great, with pizzas and home made grub. Now very little food is sold in the pub, is this down to one eccentric multimillionaire that doesn't give a toss about the customers or the staff and managers.

This is my first post and possibly last one, I have resigned from my job working for this brewery. Due to the pressure i felt under and the change of managers and relief managers changing things all the time. Some of the managers that have come and gone are badly trained and should not be running a pub, I don't know where they find them from. I have worked for other pub groups in the past with no problems of change of managers or company policy on a whim. Why does Samuel Smith's brewery do this ? I find the pubs strange as no music or televisions, but lots of great banter on a Friday and Saturday night. The drinks are cheap enough, but customers still complain about the change from Alpine to Taddy lager.

This company is constantly trying to change everything to it's own brands and doing everything on the cheap. The food for quiz nights used to great, with pizzas and home made grub. Now very little food is sold in the pub, is this down to one eccentric multimillionaire that doesn't give a toss about the customers or the staff and managers.

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

Sadly your story is all too familiar and sums up pretty much what everyone says. The company has its good points but they're very often outweighed by the nonsense that's going on. I hope you manage to find somewhere better for you to go.

sorry to hear about your grief, but as onthedrink says, it's all quite typical of what seems to be going on in most, if not all sams pubs. it just goes to prove how much misery one person (humphs) can cause, and would seem to be either oblivious (which i doubt) or genuinely not give a damn. it's amazing to think that in this day an age of business, one man can believe himself better than hundreds, if not thousands of other people, including his forefathers from which he inherited the business

who know's, maybe humph gets his kicks from knowing that he's making everyone else's life a complete misery. humph's would be better (and maybe happier?) sticking to what he does best, and probably enjoys the most, looking after the estate, buildings etc.

sexylexy - hope your new job pans out ok. i guess anyone who has worked for sams, must feel initially happier with any new job: a breath of fresh air

Thanks and having read through other comments now, realise that i am not on my own. I know in another Samuel Smith pub in the next village that 2 staff are leaving due to not enough hours. After they were cut due to a shortage of money, so the manager said.

Yes thanks i now have another job with another pub group and much happier.

The shortage of staff hours seems to be another universal brewery problem exacerbated by Humphs. The shortage of money, comes later, when customers get fed up with waiting to get served, or being surrounded by dirty glasses (through no fault of the struggling staff / management) and end up going elsewhere.

Glad to hear SexyLexy you have another job, and (unsurprisingly) are happier!!!

As said already your story is not unfamilar and unfortunately happening more often. With staff hours been lowered and more and more managers not staying past the 11 month mark. Plus the fact the managers training is not as good as it used to be and company policy not to employ managers with previous experience. Glad you ahve found somewhere else to work.

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The opinions that I express are my own !! A Fan of SSOB products. Time for a pint of OBB

My local goes through a few staff, they don't give them enough hours to make a decent living so quickly get fed up..I didn't realise Sams had a company policy of not employing managers with previous experience.

If I remember correctly, Nellies has a mere 80 hour staff allocation. This is just two full time people (plus the two managers at "40" hours each). This is far from being enough to run a pub the size of Nellies with its many rooms and work.

what adds to the difficulty at nellies (apart from the being 9+ rooms and corridors + 2 beer gardens) is that with the being gas lights and open fires, you always get some drunken muppets (often 1st time visitors) who have to mess around and turn off the gas lights, then wonder why they dont come on again when they turn back on the tap. they usually do this on their way out, so leaving gas spewing out. from a health and safety matter, they should have provision for at least one member of staff to be away from the bar, fully mobile (could collect glasses too, which when busy is relied on volunteers!) to keep an eye on gas, open fires (people just chucking anything on) and other mad activities, hidden from the' tied to the bar' staff.

Nellies is a large old building with lots of little rooms and big one. Not enough staff hours allocated, and customers having to collect glasses and help out with washing them as well. Particularly at busy times. When will Humphrey realise and give more staff hours to pubs that are busy and make them much better for customers and staff. Managers are now not really managers but glorified bar stewards.

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The opinions that I express are my own !! A Fan of SSOB products. Time for a pint of OBB